Basketball ends year with win over Brown

Down 46-45 against Brown, Columbia senior guard Niko Scott hit his sixth and final 3-pointer of the game, giving the Light Bluea 48-46 lead with 6:40 left to play. The Bears would never lead again, and Scott, along with fellow seniors Kevin Bulger, and Patrick Foley, ended their collegiate careers with a win.

That was Saturday night though, and the Lions (11-17, 5-9 Ivy) were not as fortunate Friday, as they fell to Yale 65-48.

After jumping out to a 15-10 lead, Columbia allowed Yale to go on a 12-0 run, and the Bulldogs eventually took a 29-26 lead into the half.

Just over five minutes into the second stanza, a layup by sophomore guard Noruwa Agho gave Columbia its first lead of the half. Another layup, this time by sophomore forward Blaise Staab, gave the Lions a three-point cushion but they weren’t able to maintain it, as Yale scored 14 unanswered points to take a 47-36 lead with under 10 minutes to play.

The Bulldogs would go on to win 65-48, despite several comeback attempts by the Light Blue.

The game was not as one-sided as the score indicates. Columbia excelled on the boards—something it has struggled to do all season—out-rebounding Yale 42-34.
Leading the Lions on the glass were freshman center Mark Cisco and junior center Max Craig. Cisco pulled down eight boards, in addition to contributing 10 points. Craig had nine rebounds and tallied eight points.

“Coach really put an emphasis on rebounding, so we went out there really trying to rebound and even the guards were getting a lot of rebounds,” Cisco said.

In addition to out-rebounding its opponent, Columbia also moved the ball well, but a lot of its open shots didn’t fall, resulting in 31.1 percent shooting.

“I think we just missed some makeable shots, myself included,” Agho said. “I shot terribly. I think that was the difference.”

Though Agho led the team with 14 points, he was only 5-of-17 from the floor. However, he did contribute six rebounds.

“We out-rebounded them, we had 18 offensive rebounds, I just felt like we just couldn’t finish some plays,” head coach Joe Jones said. “We tried to play the right way, we tried to move the ball, but we just couldn’t make enough baskets to win.”

While the Bulldogs did shoot at a higher percentage than the Lions, making 42.5 percent of their shots, they also went to the foul line a lot more. Yale made 26 of its 35 free throw attempts, but Columbia was only able to convert seven of its 15 shots from the charity stripe.

Though the loss at Yale was a disappointing one, as it meant that the Light Blue would not finish in the top half of the league, the Lions still had one more chance to close out their somewhat lackluster season on a high note. And they did just that.

In a game that was close until the final minutes, Columbia was able to finish on top, defeating Brown 65-56, sending seniors Bulger, Foley, and Scott out with a victory.
The Light Blue jumped out to an early 9-4 lead on a 3-pointer by Scott, with 14:49 still to go in the first half. Two lead changes later and the score was tied at 17 with 4:19 remaining, but back-to-back treys by Scott gave Columbia a six-point lead with under two minutes to go.

A 3-pointer by Brown’s junior guard Garrett Leffelman cut the Lions’ lead to just three at the half though, 26-23.

The Lions maintained their lead throughout the beginning of the second half, but a three-point play by Brown’s freshman forward Andrew McCarthy gave the Bears a 38-37 lead with 12:30 to play. Unlike in the Yale game, the Light Blue was able to hang tough, and keep the score close for the rest of the half.

There were four lead changes between the three-point play and the 6:40 mark, when Scott hit his final shot from downtown to give Columbia the 48-46 lead.

Up by only five with 1:09 to play, Bulger stole the ball from Brown’s senior forward Matt Mullery, sealing the win for the Light Blue.

“He’s been doing that his whole career,” Jones said of Bulger. “Coming up big defensively and he did it again tonight. A great play by a terrific player.”

In his final performance as a Lion, Scott had a game-high 22 points on 6-for-8 3-point shooting and five steals, something Jones and the other coaches predicted before tip-off.

“It’s funny, we had a coaches’ meeting and we said, ‘he’s going to play good,’” Jones said.

But Scott refused to take credit for his impressive performance.
“Credit goes to my teammates and the coaches for looking for me in the offense,” Scott said. “You get so many opportunities and you just have to take advantage of them.”

The offense definitely was clicking for the Lions, thanks in large part to Bulger, who had four assists.

“The past three or four games we’ve played really well,” Bulger said. “We haven’t gotten it done every game, but tonight everybody really bought in to what we were trying to do, and it worked out for us, so it [the win] is really special.”

Foley, who started the game, but only played two minutes due to a shoulder injury, was still appreciative of the victory.

“It’s nice to be able to look back and have your last memory be a win,” Foley said. “It’s indescribable.”

It wasn’t only the seniors that put forth strong performances though, as Cisco had 10 rebounds and six points. Staab contributed eight boards and six points—a good sign for next season.

“I think the future is bright if these guys work hard in the off-season and keep listening to coach,” Bulger said.

“It’s never too soon to start thinking about next year,” Foley added. “It’s nice that we could go in and get some contributions from guys like Blaise who surprised us, who got his opportunity and really took advantage of it. He brought tremendous energy. Max has really played solid the last two games, so I think that bodes well for the future.”

Jones also spoke about the positive signs for next year.

“Overall, the season on the whole, obviously it wasn’t what we expected from ourselves,” Jones said. “We expected a lot coming to the year and I felt like for whatever reason we just struggled to come together. But tonight was great for us because I thought it showed for the future that we have some good pieces here.”

The Light Blue has eight months to figure out how all those pieces will fit together, and how to fill the void that will be left by Bulger, Foley, and Scott.